Yonah Schimmel's Knish Bakery

Everyday while riding the NYU bus from campus to the dorms, I would peer out the window as we puttered by this archaic sign (archaic by New York standards) on Houston Street. For some reason, I knew I just had to head over to Yonah Schimmel for a knish. A few months later, on some television show I can't remember, Yonah made another appearance in my life, and it is at that moment my plans of venturing to this Lower East Side knishery were solidified: the yogurt has been made from the same starter culture for almost 100 years. No, no, this doesn't mean that it's just been hanging around for nearly a century. Each time they start a new batch, they use a small amount from the previous batch, and so on...and this started with the very first batch. (Don't ask me how the first batch started. You'll have to ask them for yourselves.)

Today was the day I finally experienced the Yonah Schimmel Knish, and what an experience it was. I ordered the homemade borscht (cold beet soup) and a mushroom knish. The soup was served in a cup, and I drank it down, barely using the spoon. The knish was plump and filled with dense mashed potatoes and mixed with a decent amount of earthy mushrooms, all surrounded by a thin covering of dough. Served with a little mustard, this was an absolute joy to eat. I didn't order the yogurt, but the borscht tasted as though there was some that snuck its way in.

By no means am I a knish connoisseur, but I imagine this one to be one of the greatest, in New York, at least.

Since the 100-year anniversary of Yonah Schimmel's Knish Bakery is just around the corner, I signed the guestbook, which pretty much sums up my experience: